Niko Iličević

Niko Iličević
Personal information
Date of birth (2010-10-30) 30 October 2010
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Eintracht Frankfurt
Youth career
VfR Goldbach
2019– Eintracht Frankfurt
International career‡
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2025 Germany U16 2 (1)
2025– Germany U17 7 (2)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 12 May 2026

Niko Iličević (born 30 October 2010) is a German-Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Club career

Iličević is a youth product of Eintracht Frankfurt, which he joined from the amateur club of Goldbach in 2019.[1][2]

After spending the 2024–25 season as a leader with the under-17s,[3] he first made headline in May 2025, after he made his unofficial debut during a set of friendlies, a 14–0 victory against FSV Geislitz and a 7–1 win to SC Weimar, scoring one goal in each game.[4][5] But this put the club under investigation, as Iličević was only 14, too young to play a senior game in Germany.[4][6][7][8]

During the 2025–26 season, he established himself as a standout with Eintracht's under-19, in both the national league and UEFA Youth League.[9][10][11][12][13] He scored his first goal in the latter on 9 December 2025,[14][15] becoming the 4th youngest goalscorer in the competition's history.[9][16]

Still aged only 15, with transfer rumours sparking,[1][2][9][10][17] he started emerging as a potential Bundesliga player for the following season.[18]

International career

Born in Germany, Iličević also holds Croatian citizenship.[14][19] He is a youth international for Germany, having played for the under-15[20][21] and under-16,[10][15] along the likes of fellow dual German-Croatian citizen Filip Pavić.[22]

Style of play

A left-footed attacking midfielder, Iličević is described as a playmaker, great at pushing his team forward through carries and passing, and at taking free kicks.[3]

Personal life

Niko Iličević is the nephew of German-born Croatian international Ivo Iličević.[9][10][12]

References

  1. 1 2 "Nicht nur Real Madrid beobachtet den Goldbacher Nico Ilicevic bei Spielen mit Eintracht Frankfurt". Main-Echo (in German). Goldbach. 17 December 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 Awasty, Keshav. "Chelsea, Newcastle United, Tottenham vying for Niko Ilicevic". TheHardTackle.com. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 Ledinski, Karlo. "Svijet prati hrvatsko čudo od igrača. Tek mu je 15, ima slavnog strica, a želimo ga "preoteti" velesili". Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  4. 1 2 "14-Jähriger spielt bei Profis mit - DFB ermittelt gegen Eintracht Frankfurt". Sky Sport. 22 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  5. ↑ "Vierzehnjähriger spielt bei den Eintracht-Frankfurt-Profis: Jetzt drohen Sanktionen". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 21 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "14-Jährigen in Testspielen eingesetzt: DFB ermittelt gegen Eintracht". kicker (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "Frankfurt droht Ärger wegen Einsatz eines 14-Jährigen Spielers". t-online (in German). 22 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Wittershagen, Michael (26 May 2025). "14-Jähriger Niko Ilicevic bei Eintracht Frankfurt: Arbeitsschutz ermittelt". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Strehmann, Isabella (16 December 2025). "Verliert Eintracht Frankfurt Mittelfeld-Juwel an Real Madrid?". Frankfurter Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Wolf, Johannes (17 December 2025). "Eintracht Frankfurt: Welt-Klubs beobachten Wunderkind (15)!". Bild (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  11. ↑ Ochei, Daniel (18 December 2025). "Chelsea scouting young starlet Niko Ilicevic". Sports View. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  12. 1 2 Čičin-Mašansker, Goran (17 December 2025). "Sportske novosti - Hrvatskom dragulju je tek 15 godina, no već ga traže najveći europski klubovi". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "Mit der U19 gegen Liverpool: Glanzleistung des 14-jährigen Niko Ilicevic bei torreicher Eintracht-Niederlage". Main-Echo (in German). Aschaffenburg. 22 October 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Stric mu je igrao za Vatrene, a on je zaludio Europu". tportal (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  15. 1 2 Krapac, Ivor (9 December 2025). "Njemačka krade Hrvatskoj velikog talenta: Majstorski zabio Barceloni". Dnevno.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "Mit 15 Jahren: Niko Ilicevic ist nun viertjüngster Youth-League-Torschütze". Main-Echo (in German). 10 December 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  17. ↑ Wolf, Johannes; Freund, Niklas; Siegel, Lisa (18 March 2026). "Eintracht Frankfurt: 2 weg? So plant Boss Krösche die Talente-Zukunft". Bild (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  18. ↑ Wolf, Johannes (8 April 2026). "Eintracht Frankfurt: Wunderkind bald im Bundesliga-Kader?". Bild (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  19. ↑ "Stric mu je igrao za Hrvatsku, a on želi za Njemačku. Sada ga žele Real i Milan". index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "Goldbacher Niko Ilicevic steht im U15-Nationalkader". Main-Echo (in German). 25 April 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  21. ↑ Miličić, Dubravko (25 February 2025). "BORBA ZA IGRAČE Njemački nogometni savez pozvao u reprezentativni kamp pet najvećih hrvatskih talenata!". Nacional (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  22. ↑ Kurelja, Dorothea (8 March 2025). "Nijemci Hrvatima 'kradu' mlade talente: Čak petoricu ih pozvali u reprezentaciju". Net.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 12 May 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.